DEE & TODDY TATUM
A native Texan, Dee moved with her parents and younger brother to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1968. After graduation from Ocean Springs High, she attended Millsaps College in Jackson, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She obtained her Master’s in Public Administration from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and — except for a year’s employment with the Mississippi Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) in Jackson, MS — she and her husband Toddy remained in Baton Rouge for the next 17 years.
When the state agency for which Dee worked was abolished in 1986, she took the opportunity to pursue other interests. Having taken her first glass class a decade earlier, she and Toddy took an introductory course at a local retail stained glass studio. The rest, as they say, is history: The studio hired her, allowing her to learn all aspects of the stained glass craft, as well as the retail glass trade. Eventually, she branched out into private stained glass commission work on her own, while also employed part-time by a local fused glass artist.
Shortly after she and Toddy returned to Hattiesburg in 1995, Dee began operating a small home studio under the name Seraphim Studios llc. The studio has continued to grow, and now occupies approximately 2,000 square feet of commercial space at 104 S. 10th Avenue in Hattiesburg. Dee and Todd take great pride in the studio’s commission work, whether residential or commercial, and enjoy the challenge of working on projects ranging from the traditional to the abstract. Perhaps the most technically distinctive piece was a rendering of the architectural plans for a portion of Timberton Golf Course into glass, as a fund raiser for a USM scholarship endowment. In terms of sheer size, the studio’s largest work to date has been the reglazing of the six light fixtures in the main auditorium and four foyer light fixtures, and the fabrication of some thirty new wall sconces, for the restoration of the Saenger Theater in downtown Hattiesburg. Additional Seraphim projects can be seen at Walnut Square Pharmacy and Gordon Creek Deli in downtown Hattiesburg, in a number of private residences in the area, or on our website at www.seraphimglass.com.
Each project — large or small — is crafted by hand using either copper foil or leading techniques, or more recently, the art of "hot glass" from the kiln. Pieces are numbered, signed, and dated, and Dee and Todd take special care to insure that each piece from Seraphim Studios is unique.
In addition to commission work, Seraphim Studios offers a rotating schedule of introductory and intermediate stained glass classes throughout the year, as well as providing facilitators to USM’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in the fall and spring semesters. The studio is open for retail sales of glass, equipment, supplies, and materials three afternoons per week (Tues-Thurs, 2-6pm), or by appointment.
The studio maintains memberships in several national organizations, including the Art Glass Association and the Stained Glass Association of America, as well as in local organizations such as the Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association. The studio also participates in various community service events, by providing donations for silent auctions to (the Heart Association’s Art for Heart event, the American Red Cross, USM, Southern Pines Animal Shelter, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Symphony, to name a few), and by coordinating and sponsoring — with Hattiesburg’s Breast Cancer Awareness Team — the Pine Belt Area Flowers of Hope project, which provides stained glass panels to area residents who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Please contact us at (601) 550-4137 for further information about the Flowers of Hope project, complete class details, or for a special commission, and feel free to come by the studio for a cup of coffee any time!
Please visit our web site at www.seraphimglass.com.